Psalms 18:37-41

18:37 I chase my enemies and catch ¹  them;

I do not turn back until I wipe them out.

18:38 I beat them ²  to death; ³ 

they fall at my feet. ⁴ 

18:39 You give me strength ⁵  for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me. ⁶ 

18:40 You make my enemies retreat; ⁷ 

I destroy those who hate me. ⁸ 

18:41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them; ⁹ 

they cry out to the Lord, ¹⁰  but he does not answer them.

Jeremiah 48:10

48:10 A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!

A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction! ¹¹ 

[18:37]  ¹ tn 2 Sam 22:38 reads “destroy.”

[18:38]  ² tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

[18:38]  ³ tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”

[18:38]  ⁴ sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[18:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[18:40]  ⁷ tn Heb “and [as for] my enemies, you give to me [the] back [or “neck”].” The idiom “give [the] back” means “to cause [one] to turn the back and run away.” Cf. Exod 23:27.

[18:40]  ⁸ sn Those who hate me. See v. 17, where it is the Lord who delivered the psalmist from those who hated him.

[18:41]  ⁹ tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

[18:41]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to the Lord.” The words “they cry out” are supplied in the translation because they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[48:10]  ¹¹ tn Heb “who withholds his sword from bloodshed.” This verse is an editorial aside (or apostrophe) addressed to the Babylonian destroyers to be diligent in carrying out the work of the Lord in destroying Moab.